Abstracts – Browse Results
Click on the titles below to expand the information about each abstract.
Viewing 36 results ...
Abdelmohsen, S M A (2011) An ethnographically informed analysis of design intent communication in BIM-enabled architectural practice, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Abraham, G L (2002) Identification of critical success factors for construction organizations in the architectural /engineering /construction (A/E/C) industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ahmed, S M (1993) An integrated total quality management (TQM) model for the construction process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Appau, K A (1994) An integrated model of computer-aided cost estimating/scheduling in construction management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ayyub, B M (1983) Structural safety analysis of reinforced concrete buildings during construction (fuzzy set), Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bakheet, M T (1995) Contractors' risk assessment system, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: subjectivity; surety; pre-qualification; risk assessment; productivity; neural network
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://www.proquest.com/docview/304221642
- Abstract:
Risk in the construction industry greatly affects the reputation and the productivity rate of the industry. Construction surety businesses experience significant risk and uncertainties in their bonds underwriting operation. The qualification process in the construction bond business is very complicated, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. The construction bonds underwriting processes also contain subjective judgments and otherwise non-quantifiable elements that require the human involvement to reach decisions. In doing these analyses, the surety company's underwriters determine the level of risk that contractors represents according to the evaluation analyses for bonds awarded for potential projects. Thus, underwriting evaluations are bound to be very difficult, ambiguous, and have potentially great losses in business. On the other hand, the surety industry experienced significant impact on their profitability due to the financial losses incurred in the recent years because of the poor judgements made by surety underwriters and other risk factors. Therefore, this research investigated the construction bonds underwriting knowledge in evaluating contractors for potential projects. Then, the research proposed a new structured methodology or a model for the construction bonding evaluation. The new structured evaluation methodology has been implemented by the Contractors Risk Assessment System (CRAS) in which the system captured the knowledge of the experienced underwriters. The specific focus of CRAS is to judge or classify the risks of the construction bonds' applicants (contractors) based on the evaluation of a set of decision factors such as the four C's (character, capital, capacity, and continuity) and other relevant measures of risk. CRAS consists of four independent pattern classification modules for the 4 C's and an integrated pattern classification model to accomplish the focus of this research. The functions of the CRAS independent modules were to capture the experiences of assessing the risk associated with each decision factor of the qualification process separately and to adapt new experiences. The functions of the CRAS integrated model were to capture the experiences of assessing the overall risk of bonds applicants (contractors) by looking at the 4 C's decision factors together and to adapt new experiences. Backpropagation neural networks have been used as the pattern classification tool. A justification for neural network and backpropagation algorithm selection is presented. CRAS modules and the integrated model have been validated in which very successful results were achieved. The use of CRAS prototype would help underwriters to assess the significant risks of bonds' seekers to improve the quality of the pre-qualification analysis. Moreover, CRAS has overcome the underwriting highly unstructured environment, the process qualitative parameters in which it is difficult to evaluate or obtain precise data in a standard format, and the subjectivity nature of this problem. As a result, this research demonstrated that CRAS's new model has handled this complex and extremely subjective evaluation more efficiently to reach more reliable decisions.
Beard, J L (2011) Theoretical framework for determinants of A/E/C firm value, strategy and continuity: An analysis incorporating corporeal, volitional and knowledge assets, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Bertz, M D (1998) Situated learning methodologies and assessment in civil engineering structures education, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dabbas, M A A (1981) Computerized decision making in construction, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Davis, W J (1997) An evaluation of life cycle factors for urban arterial roadways, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
El-Itr, Z M (1992) Equal business opportunity programs in the construction industry: A framework for development and implementation, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Goodman, R E (1998) Taxonomy of knowledge requirements for executives of general contracting and construction management enterprises, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Haj Kazem Kashani, H (2012) A real options model for the financial valuation of infrastructure systems under uncertainty, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Khuncumchoo, N (2007) Roof maintenance record analysis toward proactive maintenance policies, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Lluch, J F (1981) Analysis of construction operations using microcomputers, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Loria Arcila, J H (2002) Major issues impacting affordable housing developments in Mexico, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Maldonado-Fortunet, F (2002) Sustainable development criteria for the evaluation of highway projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Meredith, J E (1999) Strategic management for construction organizations: Assessment and development of strategies to enhance corporate success, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Mogge, J W, Jr. (2004) Breaking through the first cost barriers of sustainable planning, design, and construction, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Moore, B C (1993) Modeling risk of lunar construction activities: A technology assessment approach, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Mulva, S P (2004) ARIES: A theoretical framework for evaluating aspects of enterprise sustainability, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ospina Alvarado, A M (2011) Unified framework for construction project integration and its potential association with project performance, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Paris, D E (2002) A residential satisfaction decision support system for affordable housing, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Park, M-W (2012) Automated 3D vision-based tracking of construction entities, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Pearce, A R (1999) Sustainability and the built environment: A metric and process for prioritizing improvement opportunities, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Perkins, J A (1992) Institutionalizing transportation infrastructure investments and economic development: The role of state departments of transportation in multi-state economic development activities, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Rouhi, S (2011) Framework for owner's project requirements for total structural systems (OPRTSS), Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Shakoorian, A (2006) Performance assessment of building commissioning process as a quality assurance system, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Shin, K-C (2000) Identification of critical dispute characteristics (CDCs) during construction project operations, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sillars, D N (1998) Pre-operational attributes as predictors of organizational success within a joint venture: Modeling joint venture formation in the architecture/engineering/construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Smith, V R R (2008) Impact to alternative contracting methods using multivariate analysis in the regulatory environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Srisethanil, C (1996) Pedagogical framework for an engineering intelligent tutoring system, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Tavakoli, A (1983) Productivity analysis of heavy construction operations, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Venugopal, M (2011) Formal specification of industry foundation class concepts using engineering ontologies, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Verheij, J M (2005) Process-mediated planning of AEC projects through structured dialogues, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.
Xu, G (2011) Assessment of risk of disproportionate collapse of steel building structures exposed to multiple hazards, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Georgia Institute of Technology.